11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
It is important for those in a battle to have a rallying point, a point of reference outside the immediate battle. Every public building has a fire escape plan. Part of that plan is a rally point, a point where everyone gathers after exiting the building. When everyone is there a count is made to be sure no one has remained in the building. The rally point has to be far enough away from the building so that those gathering are safe. In ancient battles, before radio communications and GPS tracking, battles were directed from hilltops by signal flags. Troops on the ground in the battle could look up to the hilltop and see what the next move was to be. If they needed to shift their attack, they could do so in unison if they watched the signals coming from the hilltop. Moses is on top of the hill. If his clear signal, the presence of his raised staff, is not seen, the troops seem to lose heart. Our raised banner, the object of our gaze is supposed to be Jesus. He never fails! We as humans do fail. Even the best leaders fail, so if we are focused on them, we will be discouraged and might possibly get off course. But leaders do have a place. They can help us follow the Lord. But we can follow them only to the degree that they follow the Lord. Moses had proved that he could be followed. The Lord had led Moses and Moses had followed the Lord. The people had followed Moses’ lead, although they did so imperfectly. They were learning to follow. Following involves giving up the right to determine your own direction. You must submit to someone else’s will. This can be tough, especially when you find yourself in the middle of a battle. But if we keep our eyes fixed on the Lord, we will be triumphant in the battle.
The Arnold Journey 